Automatic feeding device for feeding sheets of paper



W. RITZERFELD AUTOMATIC FEEDING DEVICE FOR. FEEDING SHEETS OF PAPER July27,- 1937.

Filed Sept. 6, 1935 f 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. W/LHELM R T'ZERFELD G"LATTORNEY.

July 27, 1937. 2,088,345

AUTOMATIC FEEDING DEVICE FOR FEEDING SHEETS OF PAPER w. RITZERF'ELDFiled Sept. 6, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

W/L l/EL M R/ TZE/F F'E'L 0 7 ATTORNEY.

Patented July 27, 1937 UNITED STATES AUTOMATIC FEEDING DEVICE FOR FEED-ING SHEETS OF PAPER Wilhelm Ritzerfeld, Berlin, Germany ApplicationSeptember 6, 1935, Serial No. 39,379 In Germany September 7,- 1934Claims. The present invention relates to an automatic feeding devicefeeding individual paper sheets or cards or the like into machines, andmore particularly, to a device for automatically feeding paper 5 sheetsor cards into duplicating apparatus which moisten them with a rapidlyvolatilizing solventv cards adhered to each other, were dragged alongduring the procedure of feeding and seriously interfered with thecorrect operation of the duplicating apparatus. Numerous proposals havealready been made to eliminate this diificulty but as far as I am awareof, none of these proposals, 0 offered a complete solution to --theproblem confronting the art.

I have discovered that the aforesaid shortcomings of prior feedingdevices can be eliminated in a very simple manner. a

' It is an object of the present invention toprovide an improved feedingdevice for duplicating apparatus and the like for automatically feedingonly one sheet or card to be printed upon into the apparatus from astack.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an automaticfeeding device especially adaptable to duplicating apparatus working, on

the copyable mirror-script principle which is simple and practicallyfool-proof and which elimi-, nates the possibility of several sheets orcards being dragged along during the process of feeding or printing aselected sheet or card.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide-a simple andautomatic feeding device 40 for duplicating apparatus which can be addedeasily and without the necessity of major changes to duplicatingapparatus now in use.

Other and further objects of the invention will become apparent from thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which: Fig. l is a side elevational view, somewhatfragmentary, of a feeding device embodying the pres? ent invention; A

Fig. 2 depicts a plan view of the device shown in Fig. 1, and j Fig. 3illustrates a front elevational view of the device.

According to the principles of my invention, I provide a movable'guidebar or'the like which is to be positioned on the feed table and in frontof the sheets or cards which are to be fed into the duplicatingapparatus. A mechanical connection between the feeding roller movingback and forth on the uppermost sheet and the movable guide bar isprovidedso that the latter will be turned away during the forwardmovement of the feeding roller. I prefer such mechanical arrangement orconnection between these two cooperating members that the guide bar willnot be turned away immediately after the feed roller started itsforwardmovement but only after this has been moving forward already forsome time. The guide bar is preferably arranged so that it may be turnedat a certain angle. A spring is 5 provided for holding the guide bar inits initial or feeding position. The-guide bar is turned by means ofjointed lever rods carrying a catch or the like capable of being engagedby a corresponding stop provided on the feeding roller.

During the forward movement of the feeding 2O roller this stop willengage the catch on the jointed lever controlling the guide bar wherebythe guide bar will be turned away for a moment, will permit theuppermost sheet to pass, but will be quickly'returned into its initialposition by the spring. It is advantageous to makeeither the stop or thecatch or both adjustable so that the guide bar can be made to start itsangular displacement in a definite, predetermined position 30 of thefeeding roller. I

, Since the guide bar 'doesnot move simul: taneously with the forwardmovement of the feeding roller but starts only during the furtherprogress thereof, the uppermost sheet or card 35 will be pushed againstthe guide bar by the feeding roller and will bulge at its front end.When the guidebar is turned away this sheet will be propelled forward. Ifound it to be important to adjust the cooperation of the catch andstop' in such manner that they only engage one. another for a moment andthat the guide bar will bequickly returned by the spring to'its initialposition after catch .and stop became disengaged. Sheets or cards havinga tendency to adhere'to each other and to be dragged along will bepushed back into their former position by. the returning guide bar. Asan additional precaution, I also provide the upper edge of the guide barwith a bend directed against the forward movement of 50 the feed roller.

Referring now to the drawings, a feed table 4 of the automatic feedingdevice is arranged in front of conveying'rollers l and 2 and above afeed .table proper 3 which is used when the sheets to be printed are fedby hand into the duplicating apparatus. Above feed ,table 4 rests roller5 in a sledge-like frame 6 which is slidably arranged along the sideedges of feed table 4 and is adapted to be moved back and forth by meansof lever rods I and 8. Feed table 4 is also provided with feeding guidesS and I0 one on each side. I prefer to cover both guides with a suitableresilient material, for example rubber, in order to slightly increasethe friction between said guides and the edges of the paper sheets andthereby obtain better control of the movement of same. The sheets orcards ll between these feed guides have their front edge in contact withguide bar l2 which can swing around a pivot at the front part of thefeed table 4 and which is held in its initial position by spring l3. Themovement of the guide bar is controlled by the jointed lever rods l4,one end of which co-operates with the guide bar and the other end ofwhich is arranged to swing around pivot IS. 'A catch I1 is attached tobushing l6 arranged at the latter end of the jointed lever, said catchbeing adapted to be engaged by a stop l8 secured to the sledge frame 6.The position of catch l1 and of bushmouth of the rollers to moisten thesheets with a rapidly volatilizing solvent according to theprinciples'of mirror-script duplicating process.

As an additional precaution against dragging along sheets or cards whichhave a tendency to adhere to each other, I provide the upper edge ofguide bar II with a bend directed against the direction ofthe forwardmovement of the sheets. In view of the fact that catch I1 is adjustableit is possible to adjust the time relationship of the movement of sledgeframe 6 and roller 5 and of the swinging movement of the guide bar I! toeach other. In this manner, it is possible to adjust accurately thebulging of the topmost sheet to the amount the most advantageous for thecorrect operation of the feeding apparatus.

Although I have described a-preferred embodiment of my invention whichis especially adapted ing IS with respect to' pivot l5 may be adjustedby means of loosening set screw l'|l and tightening said screw againinthe desired position of the catch. A pin l8-l mounted on sledge frame 6permits stop l8 to rock clockwise when it moves to the right in passingcatch ll.

' From the preceding description, the operation of my improved feedingdevice will be readily understood by those skilled in the art. In theinitial position of the device guide bar I! is held in its uprightposition by spring l3 and thereby blocks the way of the paper sheets.When sledge frame 6 and feeding roller 5 .are moved forward by means oflevers l and 8, the topmost sheet will be pressed against the guide barand consequently its front end will become slightly bulged. In a littlewhile, however, stop l8 will engage catch I! on bushing l6, and therebycause same to swing in the direction of the arrow. This swingingdisplacement will be transmitted to lever rods l4 which will swing guidebar I! out of its initial position, opening the path of the uppermostsheet. Stop II will engage catch II for a moment only and theseco-operating parts will be soon disengaged during further progress ofthe sledge frame 6. For this reason guide bar I! will be brought back toits initial position by the spring. The topmost sheet or card whichbecame slightly bulged during the first part of the forward movement ofthe sledge frame, to wit: previous to catch I! being engaged by stop I8,will'be propelled forward when the guide bar It is turned away towardthe horizontal direction and will not be seized by the guide'bar on itsimmediate return. Now the topmost sheet will be. above the upper edgesof the guide bar and will be pushed forward due to the further forwardmovement of the sledge 6 and of the feed roller 5 and will arrive inbetween the conveying rollers I and 2.

Sheets or cards having a tendency to adhere to to be used as anauxiliary attachment to duplicating apparatus now in use and operatingon the principle of the mirror-script duplicating process, it is readilyunderstood that I do not wish to limit myself to this particularembodiment. Modifications or variations will readily suggest themselvesto those skilled in the art and the principles of my present inventioncan be adapted to the different types of duplicating or printingapparatus. These variations or modifications are to be considered withinthe true spirit and scope of my present invention as disclosed in thepresent specification and as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a device of the character described, the combination comprising afeed table adapted to hold a plurality of. superimposed paper sheets, aslide member adapted to be moved back and forth along the side edges ofsaid table, a feeding roller associated with said slide member andengaging V the uppermost of said sheets, a guide bar pivotally mountedon said table in front of said paper sheets capable of being turned awayto permit passage of said uppermost paper sheet, and means the topmostsheet or card are separated therefrom during the bulging and will beretained by the quickly returning guide bar so that they will be kept intheir initial placeready to be fed into the duplicating apparatus duringfurther operation of the feeding device. A moistening device l9 may bearranged between the conveying rollers l and 2 and the feeding deviceand preferably may extend towards and into the plvotally mounted mountedon said table and slide member for turning away said guide-bar duringthe forward movement of said feeding roller.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination comprising'afeed table adapted to hold a plurality of superimposed paper sheets, aslide member adapted to be moved back and forth along the side edges ofsaid table, a feeding roller jointedly connected to said slide memberand en'- gaging the uppermost of said sheets, a guide bar at one end ofsaid table in front of said paper sheets capable of being turned away topermit passage of said uppennost paper sheet, a pair of jointed leverrods extending along said table for actuating said guide bar, and meansassociated with said slide member adapted to engage a catch on a pivotof said levers and to momentarily turn away said bar during the forwardmovement of said feeding roller.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination comprising afeed table adapted to hold a plurality of superimposed paper sheets, aslidemember adapted to be moved back and forth along the side edges ofsaid feed table, a feedin roller jointedly connected to said slidemember and engaging the uppermost of said sheets, a guide bar pivotallymounted at one end of said table in front of said paper sheets capableof limited rotary displacement, a return spring for said guide bar,jointed lever rods co-operating with said guide bar at one of their endsand extending along said table for turning away said 'guide bar.

and means associated with said slide member adapted to engage a catch ona pivot at the other end of said lever rods and to'turn away said guidebar during the forward movement of said feeding roller.

4. In a device of the character described, the combination comprising afeed table adapted to hold a plurality of superimposed paper sheets, aslide member adapted to be moved back and forth along the side edges ofsaid table, a feeding roller jointediy connected to said slide memberand engaging the uppermost of saidsheets, a guide bar pivotally mountedat one end of said table in front of said paper sheets capable oflimited rotary displacement, a return spring for said guide bar, jointedlever rods co-operating with said guide bar at one of their ends andextending along said feed table, an adjustable catch at the other end ofsaid lever rods, and a stop mounted on said slide member capable ofengaging said catch and of momentarily displacing said guide bar after apartial forward displacement of said feeding roller whereby the frontend of said uppermost paper sheet will be bulged and separated from theother sheets during this partial displacement of said feeding roller andsaid uppermost sheet will be propelled beyond said guide bar when sameis displaced during the further progress of said feeding roller.

5. In a device of the character described, the

combination comprising a feed table adapted to hold a plurality ofsuperimposed paper sheets, a slide member adapted to be reciprocatedalong the side edges of said feed table, a feeding roller jointedlyconnected to said slide member and engaging the uppermost of saidsheets, a guide bar having a bend on its upper edges directed againstthe forward movement of said feeding roller pivotally mounted at one endof said table in front of said paper sheets, a return spring for saidguide bar, jointed lever rods co-operating with said guide bar at one oftheir ends and extending along said feed table, an adjustable catch atthe other end of said lever-rods, and a stop pivoted for free movementin one direction mounted on said slide member 'capable of engaging saidcatch and of momentarily turning away said guide bar after a partialforward displace ment of said feeding roller depending on theadjustment' of said catch whereby said guide bar will be momentarilyturned away by said jointed lever rods and the uppermost sheet will bepro-v pelled forward by said feeding roller when said catch is engagedby said stop and said guide bar will be returned to'its position of restby said return spring and will retain the sheets adhering to saiduppermost sheet after said catch and said stop become disengaged.

WHIHELMRI'IZERFELD.

